懂中文 Dong Chinese

蛊

gǔ

poison

Simplified form of 蠱. Depicts a poisonous insect (虫) placed in a container (皿). Alludes to the practice of cultivating poisonous insects inside a container by letting all of the insects devour each other until one poisonous insects remains to use as poison.

Components
虫 iconic component

虫  Iconic component

chóng

  

bug, insect

Used here to depict a poisonous insect.

皿 iconic component

皿  Iconic component

mǐn

  

dish

Evolution

蛊 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
蛊 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
蛊 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
蛊 Traditional script Modern

Traditional script

Modern
蛊 Simplified script Modern

Simplified script

Modern
Definitions

蛊 (蠱) 

gǔ

poison; venom; harm; bewitch; arch. legendary venomous insect; to poison; to bewitch; to drive to insanity; to harm by witchcraft; intestinal parasite

Most common words with 蛊
Freq.
Word
Meaning

蛊

to poison

蛊惑

to poison

蛊惑人心

to resort to demagogy